View from the Far Side: Of nuclear power, Bakun dam and PKFZ
It is most hypocritical to cite environmental reasons that there should not be nuclear power in Malaysia when other mega power-generation projects such as the Bakun hydroelectric dam also result in irreversible environmental impacts, as well as socio-economic impacts.
By Nora
Of course, Malaysia should not have nuclear power plants.Not only are we lacking in expertise, our integrity is also suspect. Compliance to safety aspects is especially suspect.
Let’s not talk about large-scale nuclear installations. Some of the local and even apex universities do not even know how to dispose of their nuclear-containing research equipment! Here is a true incident that happened in early 2000’s and should make you re-think Malaysia's safety compliance systems:
An old Spectrometer model of the sort from the 1970s containing intact Radium-266 – the newer model has Radium vial that can be taken out, but not this old model – was left for years in the corridor of a university and later moved outside of a few academicians’ offices where the staff and students passed by every day! No standard ‘Beware! Radioactive!’ sign was put up, nor was the equipment placed at an isolated location. Rightfully, the MINT should be contacted for its proper disposal.
One day, the ‘pelupusan’ committee got some no-tech scrap-dealer to ‘lupuskan’ the Spectrometer. The scrap dealer had his sleeves pushed up and with some screwdrivers was going to dismantle the Spectrometer right there and then at the corridor – with no safety precaution at all!!
Official written complaints were made to the authorities which, alas, fell onto deaf ears! Presumably, the university was not equipped to handle such issues or such nuclear wastes. The Spectrometer was probably not registered with MINT as it was older than MINT itself, and it would probably cost a lot of money for proper disposal. Have not heard what eventually happened to the Spectrometer. Hopefully, for every one’s sake, it was properly disposed of by MINT! As it were, there were a couple of professors from the same building who died from cancer. Any connection? Think for yourself! Look up radium and look up its health effects!
Yes, nuclear power generation should not be pursued in Malaysia due to environmental and safety concerns. However, mega hydroelectric dam projects should also not be built due to environmental concerns. Instead, relatively clean renewable energy such as solar and wind should be promoted. In the case of the Bakun dam project, hundreds if not thousands of natives were displaced when the land was submerged; and this is irreversible social impact. Ecologically, submerging the land also leads to the irreversible loss of biodiversity of flora and fauna.
Why is Mahathir suddenly against nuclear power when he allowed nuclear submarines to participate in the Langkawi Maritime shows? If he is embracing environmentalism at this late stage, why did Mahathir not say anything about the environmental effects of Bakun Dam and the submarine cable transmission?
Were there not many large protests from the Rakyat when the Bakun project proposal was announced many years ago? The original Bakun project as proposed many years ago supposedly promised not to cost the government (read: tax-payers) extra money …. now, it is supposed to cost more than RM 6 billion!! Was the submarine cable work also supposed not to cost the govt/tax-payers money? Now, many years later, Malaysians seem to have forgotten these ….
In May, there have been announcements of contracts for the submarine cables from Sarawak to Sabah to Johor, and that Sarawak will be a powerhouse (http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/28/business/3992516&sec=business; http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/4/business/3815127&sec=business).
The 10K Megawatt Bakun project now will cost ca. >RM 6 billion!
If there is no nuclear power in Malaysia, presumably the demand for electricity from the Bakun dam would be ensured. In fact, there is much excess energy to be produced from the Bakun Dam, that Malaysia has recently offered to sell electricity from the Bakun dam to Kalimantan.
What are all the companies and contractors involved in the Bakun project? WHO ARE BEHIND THESE COMPANIES?
May the Rakyat know what is the difference between the Bakun dam project and the PKFZ, in terms of tax-payers’ money being misused?
